They haven't seen each other for more than a year

Gisela and Thomas Schwegler produce sustainable coffee, and the products of their Zug start-up are in demand. A reason to celebrate, if it wasn’t for the fact that the couple haven't been able to see each other for more than a year.

Thomas Schwegler no longer counts the weeks and months. He last embraced his wife more than a year ago. Since then, they have been experiencing a marriage at a distance – involuntarily. A reunion was planned recently, but the Corona crisis put a stop to the couple's plans. But Gisela and Thomas Schwegler are not letting this get them down. "Our vision knits us together," he says.

Their vision has a name: Tropical Mountains Coffee. This start-up from Zug is dedicated to the production of sustainable coffee, although the project means that Gisela (35) and Thomas Schwegler (46) do not see each other for weeks at a time, even under normal circumstances. While she runs the coffee farm in Peru, he organises the sales and distribution from Zug. Thomas Schwegler normally travels to Peru twice a year for several weeks, and his wife visits him in between in Switzerland. With the outbreak of the Corona crisis, however, this was suddenly no longer possible. "The coffee keeps uniting us," he says.

Sales also increased during the crisis
The Peruvian-Swiss couple started their adventure in 2014. The first three years were almost like a hobby, before the two then decided to make coffee their main business in 2017. The seed has also grown from an economic point of view in the meantime, with 2020 shaping up to be an excellent year: sales are significantly higher than in the previous year. Direct sales are developing in a pleasing way, and there have also been successes in working with wholesalers: the Coop has added the products of the Zug start-up to its product range. "For the first time, we’re making real money. We’re not getting rich from it, but we don't have to worry about how to pay the bills," emphasises Thomas Schwegler.

Photo 1: Thomas and Gisela Schwegler with coffee bags from Tropical Mountains Coffee
Photo 2: Coffee from Tropical Mountains

But the success of Tropical Mountains Coffee is no accident. The recipe for success is sustainability and a lot of passion for a high-quality product. Tropical Mountains coffee is not only organically grown, but the packaging is also bio-degradable. Even the Nespresso-compatible capsules are environmentally friendly. They are made of lignin, a natural raw material that is also called the "glue of trees". In addition, Gisela and Thomas Schwegler have invested a lot of time and money in the design of their products in recent years, and diversified them widely at an early stage. Their customers not only include hotels and restaurants, but the business with private customers is also an important pillar.

The average Swiss person drinks 975 cups of coffee a year
This is now paying off. "The big money is certainly easier to earn elsewhere, but, in this way, we can gradually reap the fruits of our years of work with many hardships," says Thomas Schwegler. This is not self-evident, because the market environment is very competitive. Switzerland is an extremely lucrative country for coffee producers, with consumption in this country being higher than many other countries. According to the Cafetier Suisse industry association, Swiss people drank an average of 975 cups of coffee per year in 2018.

The numbers of added-value in Switzerland are even more impressive: the coffee industry generates around CHF 4.9 billion a year through trade, sales and production, or about 1% of the gross domestic product,.

But because Switzerland is such an attractive market, there is fierce competition. And the global market has suffered from falling prices in recent years. The stock market price of the Arabica bean – which accounts for around 60% of the world market – has at times been as low as it has ever been in the last 14 years.

The prospects are also mixed. Experts expect the demand for coffee to double over the next 30 years, as the appetite for the black brew grows in popularity in Asian countries. On the other hand, climate change is affecting the growing regions, which has a negative impact on the harvest. So if you want to survive in this business, you have to be good. And you have to specialise. Thomas Schwegler has internalised this: "We knew that we would only succeed if we offered something different from the mainstream."

Coffee from sustainable production could prove to be a competitive advantage. At least Gisela and Thomas Schwegler hope so, and the feedback they receive and the growing number of customers reinforce their view. The industry association Cafetier Suisse is also noting a change. "The social and ecological component of coffee is a growing concern for many consumers, and is therefore also receiving increased attention in the Swiss coffee market," it writes in its latest report. That’s why Gisela and Thomas Schwegler want to go one step further. They aim to achieve a CO₂-neutral production of their compostable capsules. But, before that, the two also want to see each other again!

Note: For more information, please visit www.tropicalmountains.com.

Videos (in German) can also be seen on https://youtu.be/4LWxBNIlE8w andhttps://youtu.be/lf9k2jwnK8M